+++ Despite its price tag, which many will argue isn’t really affordable, Americans bought the CORVETTE in droves during the first quarter of 2024. In fact, they snapped up more of GM’s flagship mid-engine performance car than all of the Toyota Supra, Nissan 400Z, Mazda MX-5, Subaru BRZ, Toyota GR86 and BMW Z4 put together. Now, that’s what I call domination. That’s right, the Detroit carmaker sold a total of 8.576 Corvettes in the first 3 months of 2024, marking an 8.5 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier. Surprisingly, this made it the 4th best performing sports car in America, almost outperforming all BMW 4-series types, including the coupe, the convertible and the Gran Coupe. What makes this statistic even more impressive is that, although the Corvette can be had for a reasonable price when you take into consideration everything it offers, Chevrolet brings in an average of 6 figures on every example it sells: the average transaction price in the 4th quarter of 2023 was over $106,000. By contrast, the most expensive Supra that Toyota offers is the 45th Anniversary Edition model that starts at $65,275, and comes with nearly no options to drive the price up farther. Despite this, Toyota only managed to sell 484 units of its BMW-based sports cars last quarter, barely exceeding 5 cars per day, compared to the Corvette’s daily average of 95 units sold! What’s also impressive about the Corvette’s performance is that the first quarter of the year usually isn’t a particularly good month for sports cars. While there are, admittedly, still some pretty big hitters yet to hear from (like Porsche, Mercedes, Maserati and Lamborghini), sales weren’t great. The Corvette was the only model among the top-5 best-selling sports cars whose sales improved as compared to the first quarter of 2023. Segment-wide, sales were down 14 percent. All the same, the Ford Mustang is still America’s best-selling sports car, topping the charts with 13.707 units. So far, it’s the only model to have crested the 5-digit mark and the second-place (dearly departed) Dodge Challenger comes in at number-2 with 9.737 having left the showroom floor. The entire range of the BMW 4-Series finishes the quarter in third place with 8.847 sales and the Chevrolet Camaro (also getting the axe) finished in fifth. +++
+++ KIA on Friday unveiled a plan to invest 38 trillion won ($28.1 billion) through 2028 in an investor relations event held at Conrad Seoul, vowing to lead the global auto industry’s automation. According to the Korean automaker, 65 percent of the large-scale investment will be injected into automation, 19 percent will be used for developing purpose-built vehicles, which were redefined as “platform beyond vehicles” at CES in January, 8 percent will be spent on the transition to software-defined vehicles, 5 percent has been allocated for advanced air mobility and robotics and the remaining 3 percent will be spared for other sectors. Kia said it expects the growth of the global electric vehicle market will slow down from this year to 2026 due to the recession, shrinking subsidies for EVs and a lack of charging infrastructure. To cope with the dwindling EV market in the short term, the automaker will strengthen its hybrid electric vehicle lineup. Starting this year, Kia will offer hybrid models for six of its vehicles and expand the number of products with HEV model availability to 8 in 2026 and 9 in 2029. With more HEV options, Kia projected that the portion of hybrid vehicle sales will go up to 19 percent in 2028 from 12 percent this year. Despite the EV market slowdown, the automaker reaffirmed its roadmap to aid the mass adoption of EVs with more affordable vehicles. Beginning with the EV3, Kia’s most affordable battery-powered car expected to be launched in the second quarter of this year, Kia plans to add the EV2, EV4 and EV5 to its major markets such as Korea, North America and Europe. For emerging markets such as India, Kia will debut locally-tailored EVs such as the Carens EV. The automaker underlined that it has set up a manufacturing system at its plant in China to produce vehicles that will be shipped to emerging markets. With the China-based production, the firm aims to increase sales in emerging markets to 250.000 units in 2027 from 80.000 units in 2023. Kia set forward plans to create new demand for mass sales with PBVs that run on battery-powered electricity. Kia will launch the first mid-sized PBV, the PV5, in 2025, followed by the PV7 in 2027, which will offer the most spacious interior among the PBVs. The company said it expects to sell 150.000 units of the PV5 and 100.000 units of the PV7 in 2030. Kia maintained its earlier goal of selling 3.2 million vehicles worldwide this year and 4.3 million cars in 2030. However, the automaker upped the target for the sales portion of eco-friendly vehicles composed of EV, HEV and PBV to 58 percent in 2030, up about 3 percentage points from the goal it had laid out last year. “After the brand relaunch in 2021, Kia has carried out various changes across all business sectors such as establishing an innovative lineup of EVs and proposing the future of mobility to be centered around customers”, said Kia CEO Song Ho-sung. “By effectively responding to changes in the automobile market and implementing concrete mid- to long-term strategies, we intend to become a brand that contributes to customers and communities as well as society globally and the environment”. +++
+++ NISSAN started 2024 on a high note in the United States. This success was partly driven by an aggressive sales push on key models like the Rogue (X-Trail in Europe). While some models experienced significant declines, others, like the Z sports car, surged ahead. U.S. sales of the reborn 400Z coupe soared by 44%, climbing from 466 units in the first quarter of 2023 to 671 units last quarter. While the numbers might not seem impressive at first glance, they propelled the Z well ahead of one of its prime competitors, the Toyota GR Supra, which saw a 45.9% decrease with 484 units sold for the quarter. However, the outlook isn’t as bright for Nissan’s other sports car, the aging GT-R, as deliveries plummeted by 46.2% to a mere 77 units. With the GT-R nearing the end of its production run, this decline isn’t entirely unexpected. Overall, sales at Nissan jumped by 8.5%. Through the first quarter of the year, the group’s best-selling model was unsurprisingly the Rogue, with 90.804 units sold, marking an 18.7% increase over the same period last year. Undoubtedly, Nissan’s bonus program to dealers, which provided incentives for each Rogue sold during the past month or so, helped drive additional sales. Plenty of other Nissan models enjoyed a boost in deliveries for the quarter. These included the all-electric Ariya, with sales climbing 44.8% to 4.142 units. +++
+++ There’s no such thing as pausing development. Although it’s been only a couple of months since PORSCHE updated the Taycan, work is already underway on the second-generation model. Despite giving the current sports EV substantial tweaks for its mid-cycle revision, more upgrades are planned for the next iteration. The Taycan Manager of Charging and Energy Systems, Sarah Razavi, confirmed in an interview that a new Taycan is already being developed. She admitted the J1 platform that also underpins the Audi e-Tron GT has been pushed to the maximum and that Porsche needs to come up with something else. Although not specified, perhaps the next-generation will switch to the already announced SSP Sport platform that will serve as the basis for a large 3-row electric SUV. “Next generation? Yes, obviously, once we publish one model, we already start work on the next one, so we are currently creating ideas and asking what should we improve with the next generation. I think we did a great job to really push and squeeze every bit out of the current platform. We’re probably going to see an evolution of the platform”. Razavi admitted the J1 architecture “definitely has some limitations” and that the goal for a follow-up to today’s Taycan will be to achieve greater range. Meanwhile, the revised model introduced in February promises up to 670 km of WLTP range; a jump of 175 km or 35 percent. Asked if solid-state batteries are planned, Taycan product specialist Mayk Wienkötter suggested the technology might not be ready in time: “We’ve been working on it, of course, but giving a timeframe when it’s ready? It’s way too early to confirm. It’s not ready in 1 or 2 years. It’s coming but it will take time”. Porsche could easily cram in a bigger battery but that increases the weight of an already heavy EV. Razavi mentioned that the engineers need to “find the sweet spot” so as not to overburden the Taycan but also avoid giving owners range anxiety. With a second-generation Taycan confirmed, you’re probably wondering where does that leave the Panamera. The latter will evolve into a larger EV positioned above the Taycan while using the same SSP Sport platform. It’s too soon to know for sure but an electric Panamera might not necessarily spell the end of the gasoline model. After all, the new Macan EV will peacefully coexist with the ICE model for several years, and so will the electric and gas Boxster and Cayman sports cars. That said, the first-generation Macan and the current 718 models have been phased out in the European Union due to stricter cybersecurity regulations. +++
+++ RETRACTABLE DOOR HANDLES have landed on many cars in recent years. It is a question of aerodynamics, of course, but also of style, which could lead to some safety problems in the event of an accident. This is said by the ADAC, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club, Europe’s largest automobile club based in Munich, which has analysed the latest models equipped with retractable handles, both electric and purely mechanical, and their crash tests. Let’s find out how and why. The first retractable handles arrived in the automotive world thanks to Tesla and, in particular, the first generation Model S. A few years later, electrically operated handles also appeared on European models such as the Range Rover Velar or the Mercedes S-Class W223. To think that they are all the same, however, is wrong. In fact, today there are many models, either folding manually by pressing on the front, or folding by means of automatic electric actuators. According to the ADAC, the problem lies mainly with the electrically-actuated ones, which, in the event of a power failure, for example in the event of an accident, could get stuck inside the door frame, without allowing rescuers to enter the passenger compartment to extract the occupants. As mentioned, door opening forces are already tested and evaluated during crash tests conducted by Euro NCAP. The crash engineers also check whether the doors are unlocked automatically as soon as a collision occurs so that they can be opened properly from the outside. According to Euro NCAP itself, so far the retractable handles have not shown any abnormalities in testing. That’s not all, however. According to ADAC there is also another issue to consider, namely the deformation of the steel following impact. Should the handle suffer major damage, first responders may not be able to open the relevant door in time. According to the German automobile club, it could be very useful for the driver in such cases to include a classic emergency window hammer in the safety equipment in the passenger compartment. Stowed away but within easy reach, it could be a possible solution in the event of an immediate escape, provided that the car windows are not laminated, double glazed or acoustically and thermally insulated (an option that is in great demand in the world’s hottest countries). +++
+++ Compact, light and maneuverable, the SMART ForTwo makes far more sense as an EV than many bigger battery-powered cars. But the third-generation model has just finished production and Smart can’t greenlight the next one until it finds a partner. Smart is now jointly owned by Mercedes and Geely, and its #1 and #3 electric crossovers are built in China on the same SEA2 architecture used by the Zeekr X and Volvo EX30. But when Smart looked into cutting down an existing platform to build a car around 2.75 meter long that would still perform well in safety tests, it struggled to find a way forward. “2 months ago, we began working on a new, dedicated platform to underpin a future Smart 2-seat city car, but we need partners to make its business case feasible”, said Smart Europe CEO Dirk Adelmann. “We want to stick to 4- or 5-star crash test rating on the Euro NCAP, to ADAS functionalities like in our #1 and #3, to have a decent range”, Adelmann said. “Definitely we have to develop a platform, because unfortunately it does not exist yet”. Though Smart held talks with multiple OEMs, including Mercedes, Renault, and Chinese brands, it decided to work on its own platform (dubbed Electric Compact Architecture; ECA) in February. But because it still hasn’t found a partner for the project Smart is unable to put a definite timeframe on the launch of the new ForTwo, which will be rebranded #2 to bring it into line with Smart’s other cars, although rather confusingly both the #1 and #3 will be larger. Smart launched the revolutionary first-generation ForTwo in 1998, introduced a second-gen model in 2006, and followed it up with a third in 2014. That car was built in France until March of this year at a factory now occupied by the Ineos Grenadier production line. Despite its age, the ForTwo has remained Smart’s most popular model in Europe so far this year. Any new model will have a significant advantage over other 2-seaters like the Citroen Ami that are homologated as quadricycles, and are neither as safe or powerful. +++
+++ TESLA announced last week that it had produced its 6 millionth vehicle. The celebration was held at the factory, after the sample Model Y had rolled off the production line. The event was subsequently announced and relayed with a message on X (formerly Twitter). Tesla produced its 5 millionth electric car on 17 September 2023. This means that it took around 6.5 months to produce another million. Considering that the period between the 4th and 5th million cars was just over 6 months, the rate of production seems fairly stable. If the pace does not drop, Tesla will celebrate a cumulative production of 7 million electric cars before the end of 2024. At the end of 2023, Tesla ’s cumulative deliveries exceeded 5.45 million units, including more than 4.78 million Model 3/Ys. Including the first quarter of this year, it is certain that the Model 3/Y duo will now exceed 5 million units. The remaining production of one million units is made up mainly of Model S/X and a few batches of Cybertruck (remember that only 2.450 Tesla Roadster units have been produced). Other players in the sector have also started to achieve significant production figures. BYD recently produced its 7 millionth battery-powered vehicle. The company has sold around 3.5 million fully electric cars and around 3.5 million PHEV cars. This means that the gap with Tesla in the all-electric car category is 2.5 million units. BYD came out on top in the 4th quarter of 2023, selling more fully electric cars than Tesla. However, Tesla may have closed the gap and moved ahead by the first quarter of 2024. This question will be answered when the first quarter reports are published in the coming weeks. +++
+++ Volvo recently built its last car with a diesel engine, however, this is likely to take a little longer for TOYOTA . Although the popularity of the oil burner has dwindled in recent years, the Japanese are certain that it still has a long future. Sean Hanley, Head of Sales and Marketing at Toyota Australia, is of the opinion that “contrary to popular belief, the diesel engine is not dead. It still has a while to go, the diesel, it’s not going to die out any time soon”. The manager said that diesel is still “a very reliable fuel source”, especially for heavier vehicles such as lorries and large SUVs. However, Hanley also points out that diesel will have to adapt to increasingly stringent emissions regulations in order to survive. For this reason, Toyota recently introduced a Hilux with a mild-hybrid version of its 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel. The new Land Cruiser 250 will also receive the electrified diesel engine in 2025. Furthermore, Hanley does not rule out the possibility of an engine that runs on synthetic diesel. At the same time, Toyota is trying to keep the combustion engine alive with hydrogen: corresponding prototypes of the GR Yaris and GR Corolla are already doing their test laps. Even the boss himself still believes in the classic combustion engine. A few months ago, CEO Akio Toyoda announced that he was working on a new family of combustion engines. So Toyota obviously intends to continue selling cars with conventional drive systems in the long term. The “major engine development project” makes perfect sense from Toyota’s point of view. Akio Toyoda assumes that purely electric vehicles will never achieve a market share of more than 30 percent. The other 70 percent of cars will therefore continue to be equipped with combustion engines that run on petrol and diesel. Toyota believes that synthetic fuels and hydrogen could one day be a real alternative. On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Toyota to sell vehicles with diesel engines in markets where regulations are becoming stricter. This is especially true in the European Union. Many car manufacturers have already discontinued diesel engines in their smaller vehicles in the EU. This partly explains why the market share of diesel vehicles was only 13.6 percent last year. In the previous year, it was still 16.4 percent. In 2023, electric cars surpassed diesel for the first time with a 14.6 percent share of total deliveries in the EU. Hybrids were also far more popular than diesel vehicles, with a share of 25.8 percent. Plug-in hybrids had a share of 7.7 percent. However, the truth is that there are also PHEVs with diesel engines. Mercedes-Benz, for example, relies on this combination in various model series. It can be assumed that diesel will remain popular in emerging countries and for commercial vehicles, i.e. where legislation is more relaxed. It remains to be seen what will happen here. +++
